November 25, 2016

Cash Shortage for another 4-5 months?

The Bank Employees Federation of India (BEFI) has said currency note shortage will continue for another four to five months even if the country’s all four currency press facilities work at optimum capacity.

According to them, the cash scarcity spilling over to next week will make people more impatient when receiving and withdrawing salary will become difficult.

“Cash shortage will continue even if the four currency note printing presses run at their optimum capacity. It will take four to five months to restore normalcy in cash supply,” bank employees’ union BEFI general secretary P K Biswas said in Kolkata.

Biswas alleged that some customers have vandalised bank property in some of branches of public sector banks and halted banking operations due to cash shortage post-demonetisation.

As on March this year, there were 15,707 million pieces of old Rs 500 notes and 6,326 million pieces of Rs 1,000 notes in circulation, the union said.

The situation “can turn worse” in a week or so if the customers face difficulties in withdrawing their salaries from banks and ATMs, BEFI said.

It said printing ink and dice for new denomination notes have reached the Salboni printing facility in West Bengal, but when the actual printing will start is yet to be known.

3 comments:

I think that is done with purpose. Govt wants people to go cashless for most of the transactions, that's the idea by using Credit/Debit/Net/PayTM/UPI. They want more money in the banks then in lockers.

The vast majority of Indians, specially rural, have never seen a bank. At the grassroots level, everything in India moves on cash. And now that cash is not available, the rural economy has gone for a toss. Farmers are not getting money for their produce and everything is on distress sale.

In cities, the situation is same for daily workers, migrant workers etc. These people do not have bank accounts. They do not even smart phones.

Now this category will not/ cannot migrate to debit cards, upi etc. It will take time, months if not years.

Just like people enroll for driving license, aadhar, voting card, govt wants people to enroll for bank accounts, so that in the longer run they are not fooled by miscreants and don't loose their hard earned money. Most of the women who keep cash money in the house are snatched by their husbands for liquor, and gambling. This has been the case for most of the maids works working at my house. After bank accounts, they feel their money is much safer.